Battle of Jemmingen

The Battle of Jemmingen (21 July 1568) was one of the first battles of the Dutch Revolt, occurring when a 12,000-strong Dutch army under Louis of Nassau attempted to capture Groningen from Fernando Alvarez de Toledo's 15,000-strong Spanish army. The Dutch foolishly left their defensive formations to charge the Spanish after three hours of skirmishing, but they were pounded by musket fire and threatened with a charge of the feared Spanish cavalry. The Dutch were forced to retreat towards the Ems River by the Spanish, who utterly routed the Dutch and inflicted heavy losses on them in a demoralizing defeat for the rebels.